[Item #3884] Iconoclasm: Identity Politics and the Erasure of History. Alexander Adams.
Iconoclasm: Identity Politics and the Erasure of History

Iconoclasm: Identity Politics and the Erasure of History

ISBN: 9781788360425
Exeter, UK: Societas, 2020. First Edition. Softcover. "In the summer of 2020, there was an eruption of violence directed towards historical monuments across Europe and North America. Statues were torn down while police watched. Prominent public figures, politicians and even museum directors cheered on the destruction. Supporters claimed it was payback for slavery; critics said it was neo-Marxist activism or sheer vandalism. Can we place the 2020 events in a continuum of violence from ancient Egypt to the art destruction of ISIS?...Alexander Adams describes incidents from history, looks at new developments and discerns common threads which help us understand the phenomenon of iconoclasm. This book shows how identity politics prepares activists to commit violence and how advocates justify the erasure of history in order to protect others. Adams suggest how we might address historical issues without sacrificing cultural heritage to the hammers of protestors." (from back cover) A most timely volume, the first full-length study of the phenomenon that has so characterized this annus horribiles of 2020 which continues its seemingly interminable course. The author, Alexander Adams, is a young poet, scholar & artist who is our esteemed colleague at the European Beat Studies Network (ebsn.eu). With Adams' own brilliant & provocative illustrations on front cover & throughout; & a thoughtful foreword by the noted academician, sociologist & author Frank Furedi, who writes: "Iconoclasm is a subject that today demands our serious attention. We live in an era where age old statues of historic figures that have been the subject of society's veneration are casually vandalised, disfigured or toppled over. Not even Britain's defining national hero- Winston Churchill- is immune from the attention of crusading iconoclasts. That is why Alexander Adams's book Iconoclasm is so timely and so important for gaining an understanding of the recent eruption of image breaking on such an industrial scale." (pg. vii) For that matter, consider what has befallen memorials to Grant, Jefferson, Washington & even Lincoln here in the USA. Trade-format softcover original, first edition. A thorough examination, desperately needed by a world that is- literally- losing its heads, & its history. In very fine condition, as new with only a few tiny bumps at corners of covers & a few page leaves. Very Fine. [Item #3884]

Price: $30.00